Destructible shutter-fastening



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

110. MATTHIESSEN. DESTRUGTIBLE SHUTTER FASTENING (.No Model.)

No. 256,439. Patented Apr. 11, 1882..

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(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

F. 0. MATTHIESSEN.

DESTRUUTIBLE SHUTTER FA$TENING.

No. 256,439. Patented Apr. 11,1882.

Y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANZ O. MATTHIESSEN, OF IBVINGTON, NEW YORK.

DESTRUCTIBLE SHUTTER-FASTENING.

SPECIFICATION formingpart of Letters Patent No. 256,439, dated Aprilll, 1862. Application filed March 16, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANZ O. MATTHIESSEN, of Irvington, New York, have invented a certain Improvement in Destrnctible Fastenings for Holding Open Self-Closing Iron Shutters, of which the following is a specification.

The iron shutters applied to buildings for the purpose of protecting the windows against external fire serve when closed to prevent access from the outside for the purpose of injecting streams of water through the windows in case of fire within the building.

By my invention such shutters are made selfclosing, and are held open by fusible fastenin gs, which, in case of exposure to atemperature of, say, 160 Fahrenheit, become detached or disengaged from the shutters, and thus release the shutters to the action of springs or other mechanism, by the operation of which the shutters are swung together over the window-opening, and are thus brought into play as shields at the time and under the circumstances in which they are required for this purpose.

To make the shutters self-closing, any of the well-known forms of door springs or weights may be employed.

The fastenings for holding the shutters open may be made in a great variety ofgforms, the essential condition being that some portion of the fastening shall consist of or be held in position by a fusible compound which will melt at a temperature far below that at which wood ignites, and by melting cause the disengage ment of the fastening from the shutter.

In the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, Figure l is a front View of a window provided with iron shutters, one of whichis represented as closed and the other as being held open by a button mounted upon a horizontal pivot fixed in the'wall of the building. Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section through the center of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a front elevation,'on an enlarged scale, of a portion of the shutter and the button for holding it open. Fig. 4 is a vertical section through the line am on Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a section showing a modification of the structure shown in Fig. 4. Figs. 6, 7,8, and 9 are vertical sections, illustrating modified forms of constructing the destructible shutter-fastening.

The drawings represent a-window, A, the

frame a of which is set back some distance from the face of the wall A of the building.

The window-frame is provided with the horizontal bar a, which is riveted in the center to the vertical bar a upon which the meeting edges b of the shutters B bear when the shutters are closed.

The closing of the shutters may be effected by the torsion-spring B, or the spiral spring B or in any convenient way. By the action of the springs the shutters are closed when released respectively from the buttons 0. Such release may, if desired, be effected by oscillating the button upon its horizontal pivot c. The

lower end, 0, of the button is loaded, so that the button is provided with the hinged plate D, transversely perforated at its lower end,d, to loosely receive the bolt d which is inserted through perforations in the ears 0, formed on each side of the button, near the center. The upper end of the plate D projects above the upper end of the button, and forms the lip D for catching the shutter and holding it open.

The plate D is rigidly secured to the button by thefusible solder or other fusible compound E, which, it will be seen, is interposed between the plate D and the outer surface of the upper part of the button. The solder is preferably made of a compound which is fusible at a temperature of 160 Fahrenheit, so that in case of fire in a neighboring building the solder will melt and release the plate D from the upper part of the button long before the heat of the fire is great enough to ignite the wood-work of the window which the shutter is designed to protect. When the solderE melts,the shutter, under the influence of the springs, pushes outward the upper end of the plate D, which is prevented from falling by the bolt 01, upon which it turns.

To fasten the shutter open, the button 0 is turned sidewise to make the lip D clear the bottom edge of the shutter, and when the shutter has been pushed fully open is turned backward, so as to bring the lip D over the edge of the shutter. The plate D, instead of being soldered to the upper part, 0 of the button, may be secured thereto by rivets E, of fusible alloy, as shown in Fig. 5, in which it will be seen that the plate D and the upper end, 0 of the button are perforated to receive the shanks either of two separate rivets or a single rivet having two shanks connected with the same head. The inner face of the upper end, 0 of the button is countersunk. The rivets are cast in their places from a fusible al by in a molten condition. The countersink in the upper part, 0 of the button receives the metal which forms the head 0 of the rivet. The opposite head, 6', is formed of metal, lyingupon the outer surface of the plate 1), and is thus directly exposed to the heat from a neighboring fire.

The mode of applying my invention may be varied by soldering a part of the fastening to the shutter, using forth at purpose a fusible solder. Thus, as is shown in Fig. 6, a plate, F, may be secured to the outside of the shutter B by a fusible solder, E, the plate F being provided with a swinging link, H, for catching upon a hook, I, inserted in the wall A; or, as is shown in Fig. 7, a similar plate, F, may be provided with an eye,f,forengaging a hook on the end of a chain, H, hung upon an eyeb0lt,1, in the wall Aot' the building; or one of the links--as, for example, the link It ofthe chain-may be made of a fusible alloy; or, as shown in Fig. 8, the plate F provided with the eyebolt f may carry a hook, H, which can be dropped into the eyebolt 1 inserted in the wall A of the building; or, as shown in Fig.

9, a weighted latch, Hflmay be pivoted in the ear f of the plate F soldered to the shutter 13, the shutter being slotted to allow the passage thronghit ofthelighter end It ofthe latch. The weighted end h ofthe latch drops into the staple 1 inserted in the wall A of the building. The dotted lines indicate the position of the latch when it is disengaged from the staple.

The modification shown in Fig. 9 illustrates the manner in which the fastening may be made selt-latchiu g by the mere act of pushing the blind fully open. In case of exposure to heat the solder E, by which the ear-plate F is secured to the shutter, melts, and ,the shutter is then freed from the latch and released to the operation of the springs, by which it is closed.

I claim as my invention- In combination with self-closing shutters for windows or other openings, destructible fastenings for holding such shutters open, composed in whole or in part of a fusible compound which melts at a temperature below that at which wood ignites, and thereby breaks the fastenings and releases the shutters to the action of the springs or other mechanism by which they are made to shut over the window or other opening which they are designed to shield, substantially as set forth.

F. O. MATTHIESSEN. Witnesses:

ARNO Benn, M. L. ADAMS. 

